Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817139557276517338/episodes/16817330649019134805
The morning after Yuuka and I promised to go together in the morning.
“Alright ! I’m so glad I woke up !”
I made full use of my alarm clock and phone alarm and succeeded in waking up an hour earlier than usual.
I could do it !
I was at maximum tension from the morning and struck a hearty gut-punch on the bed.
……Eh?
Why did I get up an hour early to catch a bus 15 minutes earlier?
That’s, you know, that.
I’m going to get dressed up better than usual, sort of?
Maybe I’ll shampoo my hair in the morning or something?
I don’t mean anything else, I don’t.
It’s just that, you know?
I don’t want to be rude to Yuuka, the idol of the school, do I?
Isn’t that the least I can do?
That’s why.
I shampooed my hair in the morning to remove the night sweats and put on my uniform, which was ironed to perfection and wrapped in the scent of soap.
After eating breakfast, I brushed my teeth carefully, set my bangs more carefully than usual in front of the mirror, etc. As I was making careful preparations, the clock naturally ticked forward.
In the end, I left the house exactly as I had originally planned, exactly 15 minutes earlier than I usually arrive at school.
I walked along the same familiar route to school as usual, but the faces of the people on the street were completely different.
I waited for a few minutes at the bus stop.
When I got on the bus, Yuka was there.
“Good morning, Sota kun. The seat next to me is vacant.”
Yuuka smiled happily as she appeared on the bus aisle and waved her hands in the air.
What is it, she seemed to be more beautiful than usual?
I felt a slight, indescribable sense of discomfort.
“Good morning, Yuuka.”
I returned the greeting and sat down next to Yuuka.
I tried to find the source of my discomfort, and ended up staring at Yuuka’s face as we sat shoulder-to-shoulder.
“W-what? What’s wrong?”
“Um, I’m sorry. I thought Yuuka’s atmosphere was different from usual today, and I couldn’t help but stare at her because I was curious as to what that was.”
“R-Really? I don’t think it’s any different than usual. Yeah, I’m just the same as usual, right?”
For some reason, Yuuka started speaking a little faster.
Maybe I started looking at her in such a blunt way as soon as we met, and it made her feel uncomfortable.
I couldn’t help but think that way earlier, because I was staring at her too much.
But although Yuka said it’s the same as usual, I still felt an indescribable sense of discomfort.
After weighing the two, I tried to stop myself from staring and observing without restraint,
“Then I was wrong. ……But did you change your lipstick, by any chance?”
Suddenly, my gaze fell on Yuuka’s mouth.
Not just today, Yuuka’s lips are always firm and glossy and attractive.
But today I felt like she had improved even more.
“Oh, yeah !”
Then Yuuka smiled and nodded.
“I knew it. I thought there was something a little different about you.”
Well, goodness gracious.
I could resolve the subtle discomfort and my heart felt right at home.
“Ah, but it’s not like I intentionally changed my lipstick for today. I just happened to think of using this one today. It was just a spur of the moment idea, so it wasn’t a big deal to me at all, so I said it was the same as usual. I’m sorry, okay?”
She said to me earlier, [It’s the same as usual.] I guess because I thought it conflicted with what she had said earlier, Yuka explained to me what had happened (though not so much).
Her lengthy explanation sounded as if she had memorized a script that she was supposed to answer when asked about it.
It was too rude of me to think such a thing about Yuuka.
However, the explanation that Yuuka gave me made a lot of sense to me.
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